A simple, IC compatible, surface micromachined polysilicon membrane was technologically designed and thermally simulated by 3D finite element ‘COSMOS' program in order to investigate its capability to work as a micro hot plate for a gas sensing test structure of low power consumption. For an optimized layout based on four ‘poly' suspended bridges and a central ‘poly' pillar supporting the 110×110 μm2 ‘poly' membrane separated from the silicon substrate by 1 μm of air gap, temperatures as high as 673 K were obtained for an input power of 100 mW.